A POPULAR young woman described as "the life and soul of the party" was killed while out for a drive with her friends.

Lena Doyle (22) died after the car in which she was a front-seat passenger was involved in a collision outside New Ross in Co Wexford on Wednesday night.

The driver of the car, a 19-year-old woman, was injured and is being treated at Wexford General Hospital along with two young men who were back-seat passengers.

Another man who was in the back of the car was taken to Waterford Regional Hospital.

All four were reported to be in a "stable" condition yesterday.

Lena was from Adamstown on the outskirts of New Ross where she lived with her parents and two brothers.

A former pupil of St Mary's Secondary School in New Ross, she worked at the Michael Murphy-EZ Living furniture store in the town's retail park, where colleagues and friends were heartbroken upon hearing of her death.

"She was a very outgoing, very bubbly person," the store's assistant manager, Jim Mernagh, said.

"She was always full of life and she was very popular with staff and with customers."

Lena worked in the sales department for the past two years. "Nothing was a bother to her," Mr Mernagh said.

The fatal crash happened in the Begerin area, about three miles from New Ross, at 8.30pm on Wednesday, when Lena and her friends were out for a drive.

It is believed that the car went out of control after coming around a bend on the main New Ross-Wexford N25 and went across the road, colliding with a fence and a telegraph pole.

The road was closed overnight and for a number of hours yesterday while gardai examined the scene.

Gardai are appealing for information about the crash.

Lena loved cars and motorbikes as well as going out with her friends.

A number of friends posted messages on the Facebook social networking website to express their sadness, describing Lena as "one of a kind" and "the life and soul of the party" and saying that she would "never be forgotten".

One friend said: "It's not fair you were taken so soon."

Friend of the Doyle family and New Ross town council chairman Victor Furness said that Lena was "a lovely girl" who was always friendly.

"It's very sad, the whole place is devastated," he said. "She was a beautiful young lady and it's particularly sad for the family concerned."